"You are improving." Kurei commented, a corner of his mouth lifting as Fuuko dodged his attack. He was not one to impress easily, but this girl was certainly showing him a thing or two. A definite change from the girl he beat up a mere week ago.

"Ha. I told you I'll get better." Fuuko smiled smugly. This however was replaced by a wince as she received the tail end of Kurei's chop and got herself knocked on the grass. The impact wasn't full and she landed rather gentler than was initially intended.

"But still not enough to impress me." he remarked drily. "I wonder if you'll ever get your hands on this lovely madogu and Hanabishi..." The mere mention of Recca's name caused Fuuko's temper to flare. It was written all over her face and Kurei smiled inwardly at the result of his provocation.

In time, I will get the results I want, he thought to himself.

"Well?"

"The next time Recca and I meet would be in hell!" she announced loudly, following it up with a vicious side kick that sent Kurei reeling backwards, hitting his back against the tree with a loud thud.

"Oh hell...are you alright?" Fuuko ran, a look of concern on her features, towards Kurei who seemed to be knocked unconscious, blood dripping from the side of his mouth.

She screamed as she felt her feet fall from under her and Fuuko found herself flat on the ground, with the scarred flame master atop her, pinning her on the ground with his strong arms.

She opened her mouth in a voiceless protest as his face came close, his glacier blue eyes burring holes through hers with its cold, emotionless stare. His lips were a mere inch over hers. "Never..." he spoke in tiny breaths, "Show signs of mercy or compassion...not an ounce...not one"

Fuuko was still half-frozen in surprise and a tinge of fear from his sudden attack, while Kurei got to his feet and began dusting off his clothes. "Better...but not good. But surely better..." he says, "It'll still take a long way...but you're getting there."

"And when I do," Fuuko intercepted.

"If you do." Kurei corrected.

"You'll give me the fuujin?" she stated rather than asked.

Kurei turned, flashing her a smile that could only be described as diabolic. "I'll give you half the world."

Fuuko smiled back.

He's manipulating her.

And that was putting it mildly. Raiha thought.

For the past few days that he had been observing the *training* Kurei was giving Fuuko, he noted he kept bringing up the fact that Fuuko was doing this to beat Recca. To live up to Kurei's expectations, recieve the fuujin and beat the hell out of Recca. He was training her, turning her head around, feeding her thoughts of anger, hatred and revenge towards her chilhood friend.

"What kind of move was that? Recca would laugh if he saw it."

"At the rate you're going, the day you get your hands on Hanabishi would be when you're both senile."

"Good, but not good enough to beat Hanabishi."

And her anger towards Recca wold fuel up like a bonfire.

Fuuko's mood had changed dramatically since the day she had met Kurei and went under his tutelage. Sure she had picked fights as a hobby but these days she made the word "warfeak" an understatement. She was on the warpath. Anyone who had gotten in her way ended up in a cast or in a stretcher. She had become the scourge of the high school. Even the local bullies ran for cover when they saw her coming. She had also alienated herself from her friends. Recca, Domon...she had become a one-man fighting machine. A lone wolf. And a very lethal one at that. The only person she ever talked to these days other than Kurei was...

"Fuuko-san!"

A smile lit up Fuuko's features upon hearing that all-too-familiar voice. it sounded like music to her ears, the way he spoke her name in a genteel way. So much like his demeanor. So unlike her...

"I thought you'd be thirsty." he said as he handed her her favorite soda brand, and in her favorite flavor too.

"Domo arigatou." she thanked him, flashing him a smile he hadn't seen in quite a while. He watched her as she thirstily gulped down the cold beverage. He sighed, wishing she would more frequently display that happy face instead of the cold, uncaring one she more often wore nowadays. It seems as though she turned into a Dr. Jekyll when she was with him and turned out Mr. Hyde's face when she was around everyone else.

And he felt extremely guilty about it.

"He even calls her hime." Fuuko spoke stoically, interrupting Raiha's thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Hime." she repeated. "How annoying. That silly Yanagi girl Recca's serving. He calls her hime." she upsetly crushed the soda can in her hand before throwing it in the bin.

Raiha's brows rose. "Would you like him to call you hime?"

"Hell no. Of course not...that's freaking embarrasing." she retorted annoyingly.

"Then why are you so upset?"

"It's just that..." she paused to think. "I can't stand the way he serves her like that, I mean, Kami! She's such a wuss. A dumb damsel in distress. He's not supposed to be kneeling to her, he's supposed to serve me! Rekka no baka!!!"

"Well..." he cleared his throat. "You've got me...don't you? I am your ninja...in case you forgot..."

Fuuko turned red to the roots of her hair. "Uh...well...that's uhm...different." she began scratching her head again, subconsciously. She averted her gaze towards the floor and started twiddling her thumbs. "You're my...sempai...my sensei...I can't have you running around and kissing the ground I walk on." she looked up and smiled shyly at him. "You deserve better than that...uhm...and it doesn't suit you."
 
He was almost tempted to tell her that she needn't have asked. That he'd serve her without second thought, with no need for a reward. That he'd give life and limb for her...if only to have his feelings fo her returned...